AUD Struggles Ahead of RBA Meeting Minutes
AUD
The Aussie Dollar opens in the red this morning across the major currencies as Israel launches attacks and incursions inside southern Syria. Asian equities finished higher yesterday with the Hang Seng +1.6%, Shenzhen +1.2% and the Nikkei +0.1%. The ASX 200 climbed 0.7% as technology and healthcare sectors outperformed at +4% and +2.1%. Yesterday was a quiet day locally and for Asia in terms of economic data with the only release being Japanese Retail Sales y/y, which came in at 5.3%, above expectations of 3.1%. The main focus today will be on the RBA Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes which should give investors more detail on why the Board held rates steady at 4.35% at the last meeting. Bullock said after the decision that inflation “remains too high” and that holding rates would allow the Board to assess how earlier tightening is flowing through the economy. Across Asia, Chinese Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMI will be released and are expected to remain flat with little growth or decline.
USD
AUDUSD opens a touch lower at 0.6888 as Middle Eastern risk circulates with fresh Israeli strikes in Syria. A rebound in mega cap tech stocks lifted Wall St. with the Nasdaq +2.1%, Dow +0.6% and the S&P 500 +1.2%. WTI Crude was +1.8% to US$70.50/barrel, whilst the yield on the US 10-year note was steady at 4.38%. The greenback was weaker against most of its G10 counterparts, although AUD/USD failed to capitalise, trading near the lower end of its daily range at 0.6890 as Asia came online. For the US, job openings data for May will be released overnight and is expected to shape perceptions of labour market conditions ahead of Thursday’s employment report.
EUR
AUDEUR opens lower this morning, coming off roughly 20 points to open at 0.6028. European equities closed in the red slightly, with the DAX -0.2% and the CAC -0.2%. Overnight, President Lagarde delivered opening remarks at the ECB Forum on Central Banking, in Sintra. When asked about the previous rate hike in June, she noted that it is not accurate to describe the June move as an insurance hike and that Europe is becoming more resilient to economic shocks. Today, German Prelim CPI m/m is set to print at 0.1% from a prior -0.2%. Looking ahead, President Legarde is due to speak on two separate occasions this week and tomorrow will see the release of Core CPI Flash Estimate y/y.
GBP
AUDGBP opens in the red and loses the 0.52 handle overnight. The FTSE also followed suit to close at -0.2%. Today, Final GDP q/q is set to release and is currently forecasted at +0.6%. A quiet rest of the week for the UK with all eyes on Keir Starmer’s replacement.
NZD
AUDNZD opens down this morning at a rate of 1.2188. Later this morning the ANZ Business Confidence survey will be released, previously it came in at 10.0. No major releases expected for the rest of the week for New Zealand.